Author Archives: The Domains

About The Domains

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 5K domain names . Michael is also a Director of RightoftheDot.com which is a consultant in the new gTLD space and a broker of super premium domains. Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest this year.

Sat 25th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
German Court Rules in Favor of AdBlock Plus - A German Court has determined AdBlock Plus is not illegal. AdBlock Plus – which is owned by the Cologne-based firm Eyeo – faces three separate but related cases involving the media groups, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL Interactive and Axel Springer. The publishers plan to appeal the ruling. AdBlock Plus does allow for publishers to get their ads white listed if they meet certain requirements. Some have called this a racket, as they claim they were asked to pay a certain percentage of increased advertising ... read more ...
 
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Associations not authorised to arrangement listings underneath .realtor domain - There is a rift between Move Inc. and the National Association of Realtors, Inman.com reports that associations will not be able to display or even link to property listings on a .Realtor domain. So far there are about 96,000 .Realtor registrations. From the article: Come May 7, U.S. and Canadian brokerages and associations who want to make sure their home on the Web reflects their Realtor affiliation will be able to claim their own .realtor URL. But associations won’t be able to link to or display ... read more ...
 
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52.com sells for $1.775 Million - According to a post on Namepros by member Vicho, The Second Beijing Domain Auction was successfully held in Beijing, China on April 24, 2015. The auction resulted in seven figures worth of domain sales. He included some pics in his post which you can check them out on Namepros 52.com was the star of the show selling for $1,775,400. 32.cn was not too shabby at $274,380. 52.com has been registered since 1998, the current owner Guangdong cotson software co. looks to have gotten the name around May of ... read more ...
Fri 24th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN
Activist Buys Up Domain Names of Politicians who voted for Indiana's Anti-Gay Law - PinkNews.com reported that an activist Konrad Juengling bought up domains related to politicians who voted for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in Indiana, the law caught a lot of heat during the NCAA Tournament as the final four was held in Indianapolis. Lawmakers in Indiana scrambled to amend the bill which many saw as a right to discriminate against gay people. Mr. Juengling has said he purchased these domains to help educate these politicians and that if they pass a non-discrimination bill, ... read more ...
 
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How a blockchain could change a domain business - Mike Ward wrote a very interesting piece on Coin Telegraph with regards to the Blockchain and domain names. Ward takes a look at how the DNS can run on a decentralized platform, he talks about the flexibility this would provide and how it would create greater freedom, reduce costs and provide less exposure to risk. I thought the most interesting part of his article was talking about how some see domains as becoming obsolete. He points out, “Despite the claims from many that a perfect storm of factors ... read more ...
 
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Web.com Awarded Netsol.Domains in UDRP - A one member panel ruled in favor of Web.com with regards to the domain name Netsol.domains. The registrant was based out of Spain and it seems tried to sell the domain for $5,000. The registrant did say that the name along with other infringing domains were registered  as part of an automated list generated from software created by Respondent that was designed to generate a list of “best search terms in the AdWords Keywords search engine”.  Respondent indicated that he did not personally review ... read more ...
Thu 23rd April 2015
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Walmart Files UDRP on New gTLD Domain Walmart.LGBT -       Walmart has filed a UDRP on the new gTLD domain Walmart.lgbt. The new domain extension .LGBT,  for those that may not know,  “is the first internet address created specifically for connecting with the Lesbian, Gay Bisexual and Transgender community.” and is operated by Afilias. Interestedly just a couple of months ago Walmart came out against the “Anti-LGBT Bill“, a piece of legislation in Arkansas where Walmart is headquartered that “opponents say sanctions discrimination against ... read more ...
 
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Verisign Reports: Revenue adult 4%; .Com/.Net Increase 3.1%: Has $1.9 Billion In The Bank - VeriSign, Inc. (VRSN), today reported financial results for the first quarter of 2015 after the market closed. Verisign Registry Services added 1.51 million net new names during the first quarter, ending with 133.0 million .com and .net domain names in the domain name base, which represents a 3.1% increase over the base at the end of the first quarter in 2014, as calculated including domain names on hold for both periods. In the first quarter, Verisign processed 8.7 million new domain name registrations ... read more ...
 
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Will New gTLDs be to a Internet what Cable was to Television ? - Jennifer Wolfe published an article on ClickZ that used an analogy that I myself have thought about to a certain degree when it comes to the new gtlds. Will the new gtlds be to the Internet what Cable TV was to Television ? There is something there, COM, NET and ORG would play the roles of ABC, CBS, and NBC, but the comparison imo doesn’t stay completely true, that is because when cable tv started we all got to know who the new stations were. Whether you were young or old, you quickly came to know ... read more ...
 
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14 Year Old 4 Letter .Com Lost in UDRP To Trademark Filed in 2012: GECU.com - A one member UDRP panel has just handed over a 14 year old, four letter .com domain, GECU.com to GECU of Texas The domain holder registered the domain gecu.com on June 29, 2001. Terry F. Peppard the Panelist found the credit union had common law trademark rights going back to 1998 even though the trademark was not filed until 2012. Interestedly GECU.org is owned by another credit union, Gulf Credit Union which seems to go back to 1996 meaning they were in business, the same business as the Complainant, ... read more ...
 
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Domain Movers: Blocker.com, MaxGrip.com and More - I can dig and dig the same amount of time that I do every day but that doesn’t mean I always find great domain names moving. This week has been a bit of a downer type week relating to “big” domain movers. I almost always can find several great one word .com domain movers that have been acquired by large companies but in this domain movers list, the big boys are lacking a little. With that said, there are a lot more domains that are important than just the “eye candy” one word domains. Here ... read more ...
 
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Controversial Bill To Fight Piracy Passes in Florida Senate - The Florida state Senate has passed a bill that would require websites who distribute commercial movies and music to give out the identity of their owners. Bradenton.com posted the news from the Associated Press: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Websites that distribute commercial movies and music online would be required to identify their owners under legislation passed by the Florida Senate. The Senate passed the bill Wednesday despite opposition from some of the nation’s biggest Internet companies. The ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN
Domains.com Moving To A Couple New Web Addresses - Domains.com is moving to a new name, not a .domains name or a .website, but rather to a .net, for existing customers and GetYour.com for new customers. When going to Domains.com you will see the following: It will be interesting to see what happens with Domains.com. Tip of the cap to Christopher Hofman ... read more ...
Wed 22nd April 2015
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New gTLD's Hit The Big Screen As The Official Site For The New Ryan Reynolds Movie Self/Less - The new gTLD’s have made it to the big screen. Big Screen, as in a Movie trailer that a reader of  TheDomains.com was nice enough to send me. The movie is Self/Less is opening July 10th and stars Ryan Reynolds and Ben Kinsley. It looks like a pretty good movie by the way. Here is the official trailer The domain name used to promote the movie is Outlive.Life which is being forward to the trailer. This is the 1st time I have seen a new gTLD used to promote a movie. .Life is owned by Donuts and ... read more ...
 
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Owner of WordPress Hit With UDRP On The Domain Name Thesis.com - The owner of WordPress.com, Automattic, Inc, has been hit with a UDRP on the domain name Thesis.com which they seemed to have acquired in September  2014. The domain name is registered through Mark Monitor. The domain was owned by Facultylounge.com Partners until it was purchased by The domain name Thesis.com is being forward to Themeshaper.com which is of course also owned by Automattic, Inc A quick search of the USPTO found 7 live trademarks for Thesis, including one filed in February of 2015 ... read more ...
 
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Pirate Bay Faces Court Date On Domain Names - Torrent Freak published an article on the upcoming Swedish court case over whether or not The Pirate Bay will get to keep what are arguably their most important domain names. ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se. What is interesting about this case is that the .se registry is also being sued by prosecutors. They want the domains to be forfeited and not to be allowed to be registered again. From the article: Next week in a separate action, a Swedish court will be required to decide whether The Pirate ... read more ...
 
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.Marriott Launches New gTLD Site: "A Journey Beyond .Com" -                     Marriott just laid out its vision for its new gTLD brand on a website dedicated to its .Marriott new gTLD entitled “A journey beyond .com” “Marriott is helping to pioneer how businesses use this new type of top-level domain as an opportunity to evolve, innovate and simplify your online journeys. So, whenever you see .marriott, you’ll have even more assurance that it’s from a trusted Marriott affiliation, including our 4,000+ destinations spanning 18 hotel ... read more ...
 
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After 11 Years Google Finally Gains Control Over The Domain GoogleTranslate.com - Google has won control over the domain name Googletranslate.com 11 years after it was registered,  in a one member UDRP panel decision. The domain name undoubtedly got a lot of traffic over the years making its owners a lot of money. The domain GoogleTranslate.com has an Alexa ranking in the US of 226,000 Why Google waited 11 years to go after a direct match .com of one of its popular products is a real head scratcher but not unprecedented. In 2013, Google won control over the domain name GoogleMap.com, ... read more ...
 
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Bolter.com Saved In UDRP Despite an Asking Price of Up To $99K - Impressons LLC of California lost its bid to grab the domain name Bolter.com in a UDRP The domain holder Stanley Pace was represented by Howard Neu. The three member panel of Fernando Triana, Esq, Debrett Lyons, Esq. and David Einhorn, Esq found that the Impression who just filed for a trademark last year did not establish common law rights in Bolter before the domain name was registered in 2013 and that “Bolter” was a generic term. Here are the highlights: “Respondent is in the business of ... read more ...
 
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Minds + Machines: Premium Names Are 3%.of Registrations; 25% of Revenue - Minds + Machines Group Limited (LSE:MMX), released some interesting information in a press release we received overnight. Premium Names accounts for approximately 3%. of Minds + Machines new gTLD registrations,  but accounts for 25% of its revenue. Minds + Machines also announced that they “hold a significant inventory of Premium Names across its gTLD portfolio and sees significant opportunities for recurring annual revenues in this area”. It is not clear from the PR whether the owned and operated ... read more ...
 
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Marchex Sells Its Domain Portfolio Of 200K+ Domains To Godaddy For $28.1 Million - Marchex, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCHX), today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement to sell its remaining domain portfolio of more than 200,000 domains to GoDaddy Inc.(NYSE: GDDY). Under the agreement, Marchex received cash consideration of $28.1 million from Godaddy, plus additional earn-out payments the terms of which were undisclosed including the maximum additional earn out. Marchex also announced it sold $6.7 million in direct domain sales since January 2015 so the aggregate proceeds ... read more ...
 
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.Poker Winds Up Its 1st Day With 1,342 Registrations & .Science Tops 150K Registrations - .Poker launched into general availability yesterday and including those domain names registered by trademark holders in the Sunrise period and those Landrush applications that were awarded uncontested, .Poker finished the day with 1,342 registrations. .Poker is not one of the cheap gTLD extensions with non-premium domains selling for around $50 and some premium domains selling for into the $x,xxx range About 800 domain names were  registered yesterday. .Science is racked up 5 figures in domain registrations ... read more ...
Tue 21st April 2015
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Sedo Sales Total $1.2 million led by Houtian.com during $59,000 - Over the past week, 568 transactions took place on Sedo’s marketplace and via SedoMLS, totaling $1.2m. 54% of total sales were the result of Buy Now listings.  Highlights of public sales are: Top .com: houtian.com at 59,000 USD Top ccTLD: lights.co.uk at 25,000 GBP Top “other” TLD: drone.academy at 6,000 USD There were a lot of strong country code sales this week with 4 selling in the five figure range. As a longtime fan of .TV, I especially liked Rocket.tv at $6,224. $6,000 for Drone.Academy ... read more ...
 
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Wiz Khalifa Wins Control Of 8 Domain Names - Based on this United States trademark registration, Complainant has established rights in the TAYLOR GANG mark pursuant to Policy, paragraph 4(a)(i). See Janus International Holding Co. v. Scott Rademacher, WIPO Case No. D2002-0201 (finding that “registration of a mark is prima facie evidence of validity, which creates arebuttable presumption that the mark is inherently distinctive. Respondent has the burden of refuting this assumption”.)Complainant has a pending United States trademark applications ... read more ...
Mon 20th April 2015
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Will .Poker Take Off ? - Christopher Hofman from European Domain Centre interviewed Roland LaPlante and Brett Samuels from Afilias on the eve of .Poker going live. Brett Samuels listed a number of high profile brands among early stage registrants including basically any Vegas casino on The Strip such as MGM and Treasure Island, general betting sites and news sites such as PokerNews. Here is an overview: Casinos: Bally’s, Borgata, Caesars Palace, Mirage, Monte Carlo, etc. Online gaming sites: Bovada, Fulltilt, Grosvenor, ... read more ...